88 thoughts on “ZOOM’s 40th Reunion”

I absolutely loved Zoom! The show was such a delight with a sparkling cast of highly talented children. I used to get so excited when the Zoom kids would sing, “Let’s roll out the barrel and find out what’s inside today!” They’d sing this sprightly ditty as the opening to reading viewers’ letters on the air. There was also one Zoom episode where one of the kids was making an ice cream cone snowman.I thought that was so adorable.

hello my name is thomas brown and i am deaf use sign language i enjoyed watch i was 9 to 12 years old that was best year since 1972 to 1974 so, i got dvd with closed captioned but show with english/subtitles i like 1970’s style zoom was real cool and shirt color was cool too!

Loved the show, great memories. Why is it that they just don’t make kids like us 70’s kids anymore (including mine). My favorite episode was when they featured kids making a tree house. That summer my friends and I gathered wood from all over the neighborhood invaded our dads nail supply and built our own tree house. Best summer ever!!!

My favorite zoomer was the Asian girl… I just don’t remember her name.

I was nine years old when season one was on the air in Chicago. I had such a crush on Tommy. I even named my second kitty cat after him. So nice to see this reunion picture of them as “grown-ups”. LOL.

It’s so great to see a picture of the ZOOM cast! As a young child growing African American in Chicago it was great to see a show with kids of all kinds just being kids. It was wonderful all the original ideas that were in the show and how me and my friends lived for new stuff from zoom and tried to get shirts. Nancy was my crush before I had a crush lol. We need more shows like this now without adults messing it up.

I remember Zoom from the 1972-73 season. It used to come on KCET Channel 28, Los Angeles.

Ubbi dubbi. Come on and Zoom, Zoom, Zoom! I still remember a cartoon sketch when kids went Trick Or Treating. They knocked on the door an a witch appeared. The kids said ” Eeeeek!” “A witch!” The witch began laughing like a maniac and dragged the kids inside and slammed the door. The end.

How incredibly fun to see this! I was the Contributions Editor (selected all the segments to do on the air from our thousands of letters from kids). I loved working with the Zoom kids in the studio to do these segments for the viewing audience. It was an ingenious idea that Chris Sarson cane up with— to use TV to get kids active and creative! Glad you had a reunion wish I had known about it!

Definitely had a crush on Tracy, but Ann wasn’t far behind. The slightly dark studio and the kids in socks were surreal but it all somehow worked. Other children’s shows had perfect looking kids and bright lights, the zoomers were kids everyone could relate to.

This was my favorite show, growing up in Brooklyn NY. The kids were great/relatable, the songs, videos, activities, etc. I loved it all. (Getting mail back from the show when you wrote was also amazing.)

Hubi, frubends. (Sorry, had to do it). Just wanted to say that this show was so important for me when I was a kid in the seventies. I grew up in a very small, very white, town in New Hampshire. The word diversity was not even in my vocabulary… until the sixth grade. That year I got not only my first Male teacher, but he was the first Jewish person I ever knew. At Christmas time that year he told my class that Christmas was not his holiday, but if we wanted to give him a gift, it had to be something we made ourselves. I just happen to have had a book about Zoom. And the book had a recipe for Challah in it. I had never made bread before. But I tried it. Nailed it!!!. He really appreciated the bread, and the fact that I honored both of our traditions. So, anyway… I looked up Zoom tonight because I want to make some Challah. I know I can find hundreds of recipes online, but I want THAT one. Anyone know where I can find that book?

Many years ago, while shopping at the Burlington Mall, a woman approached me and said that she remembered me from WGBH. That woman turned out to be Edith from Zoom. As best that I can remember, she was happy and doing well.

I loved that show Zoom as kid. I knew one cast member, his nickname was Red, but his real name is name was David O’Brian. What he been up to since the show? You guys look great. Sincerely, Maria Saia Martin

David is married and lives in Lynchburg, Virginia. He is a pastor at Blue Ridge Community Church (www.blue-ridge.org) and ministry leader of Celebrate Recovery. We have 4 children & 5 grandchildren. He is an awesome husband & loves the Lord!

It aired during a very different time, the early to mid 70s, when a cultural shift was taking place. Moms started to go back to work, families were splitting up, and the innocence of the 60s was disappearing.

For so many of us, Zoom was the ultimate escape for urban kids whose lives weren’t the way life was depicted on the Brady Bunch, and Zoom had a cast of kids who weren’t California perfect, and somehow made us feel like we were fine just the way we were.

Watching the reruns, there is a bit of a melancholy vibe to it all, and that realism is what made it work. Kids weren’t patronized, they were valued and heard.

Listen to City Child. For me, that haunting beautiful melody perfectly captures the vibe of Zoom, and those chilly autumn evenings in NY sitting in front of the TV, watching kids with a very peculiar accent sing, dance, and ‘rap’.

Wow! I loved ZOOM, the original cast was my age. It was a great break from daily afternoon sitcoms and reruns. It was creative and made me ponder things as I sat and polished off several bowls of cold cereal. Kids living in an eastern city, a bigger city, not much different than myself and the kids in po dunk Puyallup.

Wow!!! It’s GREAT to see this cast photo. I hope PBS does a ZOOM Reunion Special featuring the casts of the 70’s. I had a crush on NANCY – I thought she was soooo talented. Plus she had a great precocious personality. God bless them all. I’d like to know what happened to Luis and Andrae who were members of two different casts. THANK YOU FOR THIS PIC!!

Wow! I watched Zoom on PBS ch13 in Dallas. I loved the show. I had such a crush on Tracy. I was so angry when she was no longer on the show that I wrote an angry letter to the show, but I don’t think I mailed it. That is what I remember the most. However, reading these other posts brings back other cool memories. Enjoyed the reunion picture! Tracy is still cute.

It’s so good to see you all. I grew up watching Zoom. Being a black kid growing up in New Jersey, it was nice to see Nancy and Kenny and Leon, and everyone together having fun. I also had a crush on Nancy, I also wanted to wish Nancy a happy birthday ❤ on July 20th but I didn’t know where, so I’ll do it now, this is a great photo. God bless you all and thanks for the memories.

Hi. I was soo in Love with Nancy when I was little, watching the show. It’s really good seeing Nancy again. I can see that it looks like you’re using a cane now. Good to see you Nancy. Cane & all. Thank for posting your picture. You’ve put a smile on my face.

I loved this show growing up in the suburbs of Boston. With my two sisters and our friends we would reenact the shows and we each got to be our favorite character. Of the girls, we all fought over being Ann. Great memories!

This is definitely a show that needs to be released on video. Not just the “best of”. But the whole series needs to be brought back. The remake just doesn’t hold a candle and lacks the charm of the original. Just find out who holds the license and bombard them with requests.

I agree totally! Why are they not releasing the complete episodes? Its probably either for legal reasons, or god forbid, they recorded over the original video tapes (they used to do that back then to save money). Bring back Zoom!

Hi…what a nice photo…Tracy certainly was my favorite sooner too…Leon I didn’t know (2years older) but he was kinda kewl..went to my school…in Dover, what I wanna know is how come of all these local Boston kids not even a single kid…has that Boston dialect?

Hey James, I was a huge Zoomer during the first 3 or 4 seasons. I am also a fan of your work on Zoom. What memories can you share regarding the production of the shows. How much input did the cast members have regarding the content of the shows, songs. Etc. Were the kids easy to work with? How about their parents? Was it true that the parents signed very long contracts preventing their children from performing on other shows? Thankx!!!

Oh My God, I can’t express in words the joy and happiness that came flooding through when I found this photo. I was Googling where are you guys now. I loved, loved, loved Nancy. My other favorites Leon, Joe…well, truly all of you. The Cat Came Back, my favorite. Bring back my childhood, please! I am just smiling. Where is Bernadette?

An absolutely wonderful time in my preteen/teen years. I wouldn’t eat dinner or be disturbed when that show was on! Best friend gave me a “Zoom Back to the 70’s” dvd for my 53rd b-day. Best gift EVER! And, all the best to the cast members!

What a great photo! I’m a singer songwriter Currently recording an album But way back in 72, 73 I was still just a boy & just starting to write songs And boy did I have a thing for Tracy I used to be glued to the set I wrote one of my 1st songs about that Little girl a song called Tracy It was about how I thought it was our destiny to meet And be together Kind of hallarious What a lonely little kid Can talk himself into She does look kind of the same Nice to see Nina, joe, nancy, ann and tommy in the photo too! I loved all the kids in the first 2 casts It really brought back a very innocent time in my life Thanks

Ok, I will admit that Tracy was my favorite Zoomer, although I loved them all. I even went so far as to name a beloved pet after her. A little yellow duckling that I got one Easter. She grew into a beautiful and elegant white duck that lived long past her life expectancy.

I WAS SO HAPPY TO SEE THIS PHOTO. I WATCHED ZOOM IN THE EARLY 70’s. I LOVED EVERYONE, HOWEVER, I WAS MOSTLY FOUND OF NANCY. I LOVED THE MUSICAL SKIT “THE CAT CAME BACK” MY MOTHER CALLED NANCY “HER LITTLE GIRL” AND I ALWAYS THOUGHT OF NANCY AS MY BIG SISTER. :) OH– AND TRACY– YOU HAVEN’T CHANGED A BIT. YOU LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME :)

I am a Canadian who absolutely loved Zoom and watched it religiously each week on PBS Detroit. It is so nice to see that 40+ years later, you are all still looking fantastic!!! Thank you so much for posting, Tommy…what great memories this one photo conjured up for me!!!!

I absolutely loved Zoom! So refreshing to see and know that you guys stay in contact with one another. While I liked all of the Zoomers,my favorite was Nancy. She was so talented. Would love to know what the original and second season cast are up to these days.